


Bad Dreams

by submarine_allmighty



Category: Grim Fandango
Genre: AU, Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Trauma?, eva is really bad at dealing with sal's death okay, hurt/hurt if that's a thing, possible triggers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-07 01:44:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14660733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/submarine_allmighty/pseuds/submarine_allmighty
Summary: After what happened at the flower meadow, not only Eva has trouble sleeping.





	Bad Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> It was originally written in Russian and translated by me. Original is better,,, like really.
> 
> Regarding the AU: post-game, Meche and Manny stay in the 8th Underworld to aid Eva in rebuilding Department of Death and spreading LSA influence outside El Marrow.
> 
> upd: i lowered the rating to g bc while it is potentially triggering bc of guilt and stuff there's nothing that bad here ://

They never invited Eva to family meetings. She wouldn't come anyway — there was too much unsolved, unsaid things between her and her family. Eva's death was rather sudden, so no one had time to properly explain their behavior or at least apologize... And now it was too late. Eva got a job in her afterlife, the LSA happened, the ticket conspiracy, and the family probably carried on with their daily life, a bit shaken by Eva's passing. She preferred not to see, not to think, not to know about them, if there was no way to fix anything anyway. It was probably mutual — none of them wanted the presence of their dead relative on holidays. Maybe they've put her photo on the ofrenda as a formality — but nothing more that that.

And now she was sitting between her two sisters, eating ritual bread. Mother poured her some whiskey — Eva hadn't time to taste it, but it smelled expensive, she wasn't offered anything like this when she was alive. Her aunt was scurrying with her pie that smelled like the village and old childhood memories. The kitchen was filled with happy cackling, rarely interrupted with father's kind laughter, and if you listen closely, you could even make out the whole familial clew of dialogues: her sisters were discussing their careers in Europe (they made it!), her mother was outspokenly amazed by the misadventures of Eva's aunt the children of her uncle (oh, they grew up so much!), her father was swapping tales with his cousin and his wife, as always (it seemed she already knew this story). And Eva still couldn't believe that nobody was kicking her out, looking down on her, and she even felt herself... rather comfortable, here, in the kitchen, with her... family. 

A breathtaking feeling. 

"It's so good that you came, sweet Evaluna! It's so good that you could put off your business in the Land of the Dead!"

Eva sipped her whiskey and laughed softly. She had no business today! She was absolutely free, free, free... Because the Alliance doesn't exist anymore, and she ruined it herself! Eva, in her military uniform, the same exact Eva who doesn't put off her business, looked back at the door. There was some colorful flowers on the door, red and blue, even yellow, and Salvador asked her:

"Why can't you do anything good? I anchored so much hope on you. I believed you, Eva. Why did you lie to me? Because you are a useless, worthless..."

Eva cried out for one of her sisters, but the table wasn't there anymore — instead a big flower bed of tulips was sprouting at the center of the kitchen. For some reason Eva thought that there should be tulips. The flower bed continued: 

"Look at what happened to me. Come on, look. Look. I can't entrust the Alliance to someone who let that happened. Tsk-tsk-tsk, what a stupid and useless lieutenant I have. She deceived me so vilely! Poor Salvador, look at what happened to him, you stupid useless lieutenant. Stupid useless..."

"Stupid useless lieutenant!" Eva repeated unwittingly, raising her head from the table.

She was overwhelmed with inexplicable, absolutely irrational fear, and even the radio noise to which she had fallen asleep a thousand times, it seemed was oozing with the insults from her dream. Eva went through them again, recovering what just happened bit by bit. In the first few minutes she could barely move — so heavy was the realization of Salvador's death. She couldn't feel anything for several days, and now, finally, it all came — in the form of unbearable heaviness of her own bones, her ribs tearing apart from inside out and the sobs making her whole body shiver. Maybe Eva couldn't cry, but her eye sockets were stinging, and there wasn't enough air, and she couldn't be even a little quieter. There was no thoughts left — just the phrases from her dream repeated over and over, hitting the walls of her skull and feelings that certainly had to compensate those three days of apathy. Why now and in a shape of a dream, when Eva wasn't ready, when the Alliance wasn't even halfway put in order...

Eva didn't even want to know how much time she spent just crying at her table — but when she almost wasn't shaking, trying to distract herself with thoughts about work, it wasn't getting light yet. Eva chuckled at the fact the HQ still hasn't moved from the sewers, and she fell asleep there and... well, she couldn't comfort herself with this.

Heavy, but careful steps outside withdrew Eva from a meditation-like state. She didn't even consider the fact the arch-nemesis of LSA has been flourishing for a long time and reaching out for her gun at every sound was absolutely unnecessary. Reflexes. Eva tensed up, staring at the darkness, ready to shoot at any moment. She won't be defeated at her own headquarters for the second time.

"Freeze!" Eva shouted, keeping her hand on the gun. The hoarse voice wasn't too convincing. "Step into the light!"

An big orange muzzle appeared in the doorway, and Eva lowered her weapon with some kind of disappointment. The demons never hurt the dead, and even if Manny, for some reason, sent his to shatter Eva, threatening this one with fertilizer was at least funny, at most — dangerous. 

"I'm sorry, ma'am." the demon looked at her guiltily.

Oh... he actually was embarrassed. Eva didn't cross paths with demons very often, so imagining them as feeling creatures, not as machines that followed orders, was hard. But doable, since she already saw the relationship of Manny and... Glottis, maybe? Either the fact of this relationship, either the military discipline didn't let Eva to just chase away the demon and wish him good night. 

"Explain yourself." Eva sighed.

"Can't sleep, ma'am." Glottis was flustered by an unexpected interrogation. 

"I already see that. Why?"

"A bad dream..." Glottis said after a short pause. His ears twitched slightly from the anxiety. "Dreams. Awful dreams..."

"Oh well... Same thing." Eva propped her skull with her hand and examined Glottis. 

She was entertained not even by the fact that Glottis became so close to her in a few words, her companion in misfortune. It was more entertaining to her that a demon so big could be, in fact, absolutely harmless and... could dream. The thought of demons seeing dreams that worry them not less then humans was unbelievable. The higher nervous activity of the demon didn't awake rejection — just a bit of tactless curiosity.

"What did you dream?" Eva couldn't help herself. "And I'll tell you about myself, if none of us is going to sleep."

"Of course not! I'm seeing the sea monsters all night! And I'm wandering in the Petrified Forest all the time, and there was a dream where they..." he sobbed unwillingly. "...fired me."

"Mmm... I understand." Eva smiled friendly. "Work dreams are the worst." 

Of course Eva didn't understand. Her purpose for living wasn't performing her work, so her "work dreams" couldn't compare to what Glottis saw. But now, at night, after the nightmare and an emotional breakdown provoked by the nightmare, Glottis was the only one who was there and probably felt the same. Eva wasn't the best with empathy, but right now she really wanted Glottis to be alright. 

"But... actually I couldn't sleep because... I dreamt that Manny, he... flowers." Glottis hardly spelled it out. "I was worried. I wanted to see he was okay..."

Eva remembered Manny's story about how he was almost turned into a flower bed. If Glottis knew about this, then these dreams actually made sense... She understood. She felt herself even closer to Glottis, who was also worried and frightened, also needed someone to talk to, but he could make sure that his Manny is alright. Eva could never. 

"Of course Manny is okay. You can even ask him in the morning."

She tried to switch to Glottis' feelings, but it didn't came out well, and her thoughts once again turned to the fact she has no one to ask about their well-being. And he won't see him in the morning, and in the afternoon, and at night, unless she will go gathering flowers in the meadow... Unless she will go gathering flowers...

"And you, ma'am?... Did you dream something?" Glottis asked genuinely.

"Salvador." Eva could barely say it. "And family, but that's nothing..."

"I'm so sorry!" Glottis exclaimed. Eva was even touched by that peculiar display of support. "But, ma'am, I saw what you are doing for the Alliance. I didn't know him, but I think sir Limones would be very proud of you..."

Eva couldn't say anything except for a muffled "thank you", but she knew one thing: Glottis' words will get her through the next few days.


End file.
